KABUL (Pajhwok Afghan News) — The Afghan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRA) announced on Saturday that it will collect 4.6 bln Afghanis on the 10% tax on telecommunications services this year, 300 mln more than last year.

Omar Mansour Ansari

The head of the ATRA, Omar Mansour Ansari, told reporters that out of 34 mln SIM cards distributed, 22 mln were active while 80% of the illegal SIM cards had been seized. Five telecommunications companies have been fined 70 mln afs for selling SIM cards illegally, Ansari said.

He added that 4.6 bln afs of revenue were generated by the 10% tax on telecom services in the outgoing solar year, 300 mln more than the previous year. He added that ATRA had sent 1.2 nln afs in revenue to the treasury in the previous fiscal year.

He also pointed out that 1,200 mobile signal transmission towers were at risk and some 300 of them had been totally or partially destroyed.

According to Ansari, 12.8 mln people were using the Internet in Afganistan.